I decided to make a double batch of my classic oatmeal cookies but divide it up to add in a bunch of extras to test them out.
I have to admit that I’ve been eating oatmeal cookies since yesterday and I’m pretty pleased with myself. I found one personal favorite, and it wasn’t the one that I thought it would be.
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The add-ins I tested out.
These are the additional ingredients that I came up with to add to the basic oatmeal cookie recipe. (Click here to get that.)
I didn’t end up making all of them, but this is the starting list. I’ll be making more of them down the road.
Some are classic and some were a tiny bit of a stretch, but I didn’t use anything that wouldn’t be good for a crowd. There’s something for everyone in here.
- Chocolate chips
- Chocolate chips plus white chocolate chips
- Planter’s trail mix
- Macadamia nuts
- Macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips
- Chocolate chips and dried cherries
- Raisins
- Dried cranberries
- Orange chocolate chunks (Chocolate bar chopped up)
- Cranberry orange chocolate chunks
- Cranberry chocolate chip
- Caramel chocolate with Rolos candy
- Marshmallow chocolate chip
- Raisins
- M&Ms
- Pecans
- Raisins with rum extract in the dough
- Butterscotch chips
- Coconut and chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chocolate with Reese’s mini cups or Reese’s Pieces
- Dried banana chips
- Dried banana chips with chocolate chips
- Diced apples
Oatmeal caramel chocolate cookies
These were delicious…To make them I baked the cookies and pressed a Rolo candy onto the center as soon as they came out of the oven.
After they softened up for a few minutes, I used a spatula and flattened out the Rolos and spread the chocolate and caramel out to make a little pool of chocolate.
When they cool off, the chocolate covered the caramel, so you only know it’s there when you take a bite.
Orange chocolate chunk Craisin oatmeal cookies
This combination of Craisins, which are dried cranberries if you’re not familiar with them, plus chunks of chopped-up Lindt orange chocolate bar, was my favorite.
The orange in the chocolate was enough to give you a good orange flavor without having to add any extract to the cookie dough.
The Craisins added a little bit of tartness, which was a nice complement to the orange chocolate.
I was kind of surprised that this one was my favorite because I thought that the next one would be, but it wasn’t, even though it was a close second.
Oatmeal chocolate cherry cookies
This version had dried cherries and chocolate chips, and it was the one I had been looking forward to trying.
They were delicious so they didn’t disappoint, but I think that adding a little cherry extract to the cookie dough would have enhanced the flavor of the cherries.
Orange chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies
These didn’t have Craisins in them like the ones above, but they were still delicious.
I highly recommend adding chunks of orange chocolate to your cookies. I might go out looking for other kinds of flavored chocolate to try those out, too.
White chocolate macadamia oatmeal cookies
These were really good, but the white chocolate chips made them sweeter than the other versions.
If you’re not a fan of white chocolate these probably wouldn’t be good for you, but you could always try them with dark chocolate chips instead.
The macadamia nuts have a nice, mild flavor and pair really well with the white chocolate.
Oatmeal trail mix cookies
For these I used Planter’s trail mix, so they had a little salt to them, too.
These were really good, they were kind of a “kitchen-sink” type of cookie if you like things that have a lot of different flavors going on.
Oatmeal chocolate marshmallow cookies
I didn’t want to do the Smores cookie thing, so I left out the graham crackers, but this combination of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips was really good.
The marshmallows were mixed into the batter before baking, so the ones that were on top of the cookies browned and the outsides got crispy, but they were soft when they cooled off.
I was worried that baking them would dry them out but they were fine.
I must say that this baking experiment was fun, and I still have more to make from the list. If you have an oatmeal cookie flavor that you like and I didn’t include, leave a comment and let me know what it is!
